Enzo looked up from the
console. He hadn't heard Dot come out of her office, since he was so into
updating the system database. "What's up, sis?"

"I've just been
called to Sector 1004. Emergency labor relations meeting. Sweetie it's almost
time for the kids to come home, could you --?"

"Sure Dot."

"I'd rather have you
with me --,"

"I know," Enzo
didn't need to say more. Despite his reassurances in the lift at DeCrypt
Enterprises that second, Dot was still nervous. She had tried to be with her
children as much as possible. After Dot had told Bob about DeCrypt's subtle
threat, Bob had begun a discreet investigation into the industrialist's
background. So far, there had been lots of rumor and innuendo concerning
DeCrypt's business practices, but nothing provable.

So everyone had been
pitching in to make certain the Lan children arrived home safely. If Enzo wasn't
picking them up, AndrAIa was along with her daughter. No one was certain how
long it would go on but for now, the family was playing it safe and of course,
the children had no idea of what was happening.

The grade school they
attended was in New Lost Angles. No matter how often Enzo visited the newly
revitalized island, he was still impressed at how different it looked, since
the construction had began. Even Hex's Lair had gone through immense changes,
now being surrounded by a high wall and an infamous patch of greenery known as
Hex's Garden. No one, but no one, entered Hex's Garden unless they were very
brave or very random.

School was just letting
out when Enzo arrived. He leaned against a nearby data tree and watched the
door as myriads of grade-schoolers tumbled out. From here, he would go to the
day care center to pick up his niece.

Just as he caught sight
of his nephew a sensation of icy fingers along the nape of his neck hit him
without warning. Enzo straightened away from the tree. Quickly he scanned the
surrounding area, but saw nothing and no one out of the ordinary.

So why did he feel like
he was being watched?

But a nano later, his
attention was drawn elsewhere.

"ENZO!"

And in classic style,
six-hour-old Kieran Lan subjected Enzo to a flying tackle.

"Hi Enzo! What are
you doing here? Where's mom? Is she busy? Are you going stay with us? Are we
having pizza? Guess what I did today? Hey why were you looking around?"

Enzo reached up a ruffled
the mop of silvery curls, "Okay, let's see if I can answer all of those
questions. Picking you up, at a meeting, yes, yes, if you want to, what and no
reason."

Kieran chuckled,
"You're funny Enzo."

Enzo lifted him off of
his chest and stood. "So you want pizza?"

"Yeah, can we?"

"Sure squirt. Let's
go pick up your sister okay?"

"Okay," Kieran
said. "You're doing it again."

"What?"

"Looking
around."

"Sorry Little
Man," Enzo knew he could never tell his little nephew why. Would he even
understand?

Their next stop was the
day care center. Kieran dashed ahead and into the building and Enzo not wanting
to let him out of his site, followed quickly. Kieran was chatting with some of
the older siblings of the center attendees. He was safe enough with all the
mothers around and within reaching distance.

"Hello Enzo."

Enzo turned and smiled
nervously at the young teacher, "Hi Phyllis."

"Eve is ready,"
she gave him a grin that made Enzo squirm. She was in her twenties so Enzo was
hard pressed to understand why she was interested in him. One of the other
teachers carried his four-hour-old niece into the room.

"Enzo!" In a
perfect repeat of her brother, little Eve held out her arms and Enzo lifted her
into his.

"Key, let's
go," Enzo smiled, "Have a nice evening Phyllis."

"You too,
Enzo."

"I didn't tell you
what I did today," Key said as they walked. "Well teacher made us
pick someone to do an art project and I drew clay."

Enzo assumed he meant he
had picked working with clay and was assigned a partner, "Who are you
working with?"

"Oh some girl. I
don't like it though. Girls have cooties."

"Hey!" Eve
protested.

Enzo decompressed his zip
board and waited for Key. His nephew had recently learned to ride one and was
allowed only with supervision and only at certain heights.

"Hang on Eve,"
Enzo said as they started away. "Girls don't have cooties." Enzo had
to smile inwardly for there had been a time when he thought girls had cooties
as well. "You'll feel differently in a few hours."

"No I won't, girls
are yucky."

"Your mother's a
girl. Your aunts, AndrAIa, Mouse and Melissa are girls. So is Aunty Hex."

"They're not girls,
they're old women," Key said matter-of-fact.

Enzo had to fight to keep
a straight face, "Better not let them hear you say that."

"Why? It's true
isn't it?"

"They're women, not
old women," Enzo said.

"Okay," Key
said, "Anyway, do you think we could stop by Aunty Hex's gallery and get
some clay?"

"Sure squirt,"
Enzo said, "She'll be happy to see you two."

"I'm hungry
Enzo," Eve muttered around her thumb.

"Well let's get
something that tastes better than your thumb okay?"

"'Kay" Eve
said.

Hex's Gallery was
adjacent to her Lair. Despite that, her gallery did surprisingly well. The trio
had to slip past a tour just beginning. Adjacent to the lobby was the art store
and gift shop.

"Hello!" Hex
suddenly appeared.

"Aunty Hex!"
Key rushed to her and threw his arms around her and Eve struggled out of Enzo's
arms to do the same.

"Afternoon
Hex," Enzo smiled.

"And what brings you
here my love?" The Chaos Virus gave him a toothy grin.

"I won't my pretty
one," Hex smiled. "Then let's find what you need." She turned
back to the kids, "I've just made some biscuits. You can have as many as
you want." Hex lifted Eve into her arms and they started for the gift
shop.

As Enzo was about to
follow the feeling came again, of eyes scrutinizing him. Enzo turned.

He was standing by the
entrance. Enzo had never seen him before. He was dressed in a rather
nondescript fashion. He was tall and lean with metallic gold skin and even at
the distance from which he observed Enzo could sense he was someone to be
reckoned with. Enzo stared, unable to look away from the piercing gaze.

"Enzo love, are you
coming?" Hex's voice brought him out of his trance.

"What?" Enzo
glanced at Hex, but when he returned his gaze to the door the man was gone.

"What?" Hex's
eyes glowed dimly, "What is it?"

"I --," he
wasn't certain if he should say anything. After all strangers to Mainframe were
common now. "I just saw someone – he was a stranger. You know we're
supposed to be careful."

"Surely he won't try
to harm my precious ones?" Hex said. "Not unless he wishes to be
blasted into pixels."

"Still, I'm going to
see what I can find out about him. He may be still here. He was dressed in a
white shirt and brown pants with black boots. His hair and face was metallic
gold."

"I'll find him
love," Hex smiled again, "You take the precious ones into the back
and let them have some biscuits."

And with a flash Hex was
gone. Enzo led Key and Eve into the gift shop.

***

What a peaceful
system, it was
the first though Raven had when he cast eyes on Mainframe. Although the system
was alive with people and commerce, there was still a -- serenity – about it. A
pity he was here to disrupt it.

The precautions they had
taken to guard against strangers entering their system were impressive, but
passable, if one knew how. He had no trouble entering and his ship was far
offshore, cloaked and ready for a hasty departure. He had taken a rocket cycle
inland.

Procuring a room at a
comfortable hotel, Raven took some time to choose and prepare the devices and
weapons he would utilize. The mercenary took meticulous care of his weapons.
While he cleaned his laser pistol he thought of the cover he would use so as
not to arouse suspicion. Raven had many personas.

Changing into the most
unremarkable clothes he owned, Raven exited the hotel and moved among the
citizens of Mainframe. He took careful notes on where the Principal Office was
located, the CPU headquarters and the military base. He took some time
exploring the Bookmark Tower as part of a tour, slipping away every so often
and rejoining the group when someone questioned him, feigning that he had
gotten separated from the tour. An annoying little T.V. named Mike scolded him
every time he returned. Raven had to fight not to take him apart piece by
piece.

He learned that Dot
Matrix was in some type of meeting and her brother was on his way to pick up
the children. Information was way too easy to obtain. So after some searching,
he finally tracked them to the grade school, then followed them to the day care
center and finally, the art gallery.

Raven had been mildly
shocked when Enzo Matrix had spotted him but not overly concerned. He had been
more concerned in the stunningly beautiful virus that had appeared out of thin
air. By the description he had of her, she could only be Hexadecimal. It was
she whom he'd have to be careful of. He was relieved her sister wasn't present.
Dealing with two viruses would have been way too much.

He moved away, taking
time to explore the gallery. Many of the works caught his interest and he
resolved to purchase one if he had the time. It was then that he decided on his
cover. An art collector, a position of which he had vast experience. He slipped
into a room decorated entirely in blue and featuring many works from paintings
to sculptures depicting a young Prime Guardian, before he had been granted his
position.

A light scent suddenly
tickled his nostrils. Like vanilla or orchids and suddenly there was a flash of
light and a white mask and she was standing before him.

Very few things shocked
Raven into immobility and silence. But at the sight of her close up Raven found
he had lost both the power of movement and speech. She was without a doubt the
most stunning creature he had ever laid eyes on. An exotic beauty, she was
walking art herself, exuding a transfinite power.

Her smile brought him
from his admiring haze. "Is there anything I can help you find, golden
one?"

A ghost of a smile graced
Raven's lips, "You are the proprietor of this establishment?"

She tilted her head to
the right and tapped the edge of her mask with one slim finger, "I am. And
who might you be, my love?"

Raven reached for her
hand and brought it to his lips, "I am called Laroux."

"You realize that's
a virus name, don't you?"

"Of course,"
Raven said, "It sounds dashing doesn't it? Lends an air of mystery? You
look like a woman who favors intrigue."

Her mask reshaped to
normal, "Very well, I'll play your game, but be warned, I can be very
creative when it comes to winning."

"Indeed," Raven
said, wondering what he had gotten himself into.

***

Now isn't this rich? Hexadecimal thought. He's here
for a purpose. I certainly hope it's not to hurt my precious ones. It would be
such a pity to destroy such a fine example of a sprite male.

Hex couldn't say she had
been bored. Since becoming a business-virus, she had been extraordinarily busy.
Yet lately she had found herself yearning for some thing more. She wasn't certain
what.

Intrigue, she thought with an inward smile,
yes, I'm sure you will supply me with much amusement.

***

Seven hours into the
past

The ringing of the
vid-phone brought Dot out of her deep slumber.

"Now who in the net
could this be?" She muttered reaching blindly for the control pad on her
nightstand. Bob's face in the vid window was the last thing she expected to
see.

"Dot I'm sorry to
wake you."

Dot was instantly alert,
"Bob what's wrong?"

"I need your help.
Could you meet me at the archives in ten? I'll explain when you get here."

"All right, I'm on
my way."

After the window closed
Dot quickly climbed from bed and donned her regular jumpsuit. She moved quietly
through the apartment and approached Ronnie's bedroom. Not wanting to wake the
baby, she slipped inside and moved towards the bed. She reached out and gently
shook Ronnie's shoulder, "Ronnie?"

"Hmm – Dot?"
Ronnie looked up, "What's wrong?"

"I don't know. Bob
just called and has some sort of emergency. He wants me to meet him at the
archives. I just wanted to let you know, could you watch Enzo?"

"Oh sure,"
Ronnie said, "I hope it's not serious."

"Yeah," Dot
said, "So do I."

***

Bob was waiting for her
at the entrance to the Mainframe Archives.

The two binomes who
pulled guard duty stood at attention and saluted when Dot approached.

"Sir, Ma'am,"
they said in unison.

"Sorry I had to wake
you Dot," Bob said. Dot could see the fatigue that claimed him in his face
and they way his body slumped.

"And when was the
last time you slept?" Dot asked as they approached the archives entrance.

Dot spoke her name into
the security system, "Start talking Prime Guardian."

As the two moved down the
corridor Bob began to describe the events of the second. Dot was horrified to
learn of the murders and didn't blame Bob one bit for not wanting to rest until
he came up with some substantial clues.

"So what is it that
you wanted to see?" Dot asked as she activated the control panel. The
vid-windows floated around them in perfect alignment.

"I'm not sure
yet," Bob said. "Let's have four angles. Program one window to move
one nano per frame."

Dot keyed in the
instructions and the vid-windows came alive with scenes of the last battle.

"I told you when I
was at the meeting, Matrix and I sensed a viral presence," Bob said,
"But there were no true virals among the prisoners."

"No," Dot said.
"Of the fifty or so prisoners we took, all were infected sprites and
binomes. Some were released to their families, but we still have a great many
here. I was hoping the Collective could assist with them."

"Don't worry, we'll
deal with them as well. But I want to speak with – wait a nano – the third
vid-window, there, rewind."

The scene on the window
was a close-up of the foredeck of one of the enemy war ships. At least a dozen
fighters were maneuvering around the blasts of the massive cannons. Several
flashes of white light appeared at irregular intervals in certain spots on the
screen.

"Go a nano per
frame," Bob said. "What are those lights in the background?"

"Escape pods,"
Dot said, "All were present and accounted for though. Most of our
prisoners were making their escape in that manner but were either captured or
destroyed, some by their own army."

"And we can account
for all the pods on the war ships?"

"According to
Mouse's report we can."

"So we know they
didn't escape that way."

"Bob what do you
think is going on?"

"I'm still not
sure," Bob said. "Was Ashar the only true virus you
encountered?"

Dot shuddered at the
mention of the viral general's name, "Besides Nemesis, yes."

The Guardian went silent
for a time. "You're certain Nemesis is deleted?"

"Oh yes, according
to Mouse."

Again, Bob was silent and
for so long that Dot began to worry. The Command.com turned to the window again
and frowned. She suddenly realized what Bob was seeing, or not seeing.
Something was wrong with the picture.

"Wait just a
nano," an idea occurred to Dot and she began to furiously program
instructions.

The picture rewound again
and this time, the window triangulated the movements of each fighter.

"Good idea,"
Bob said and the two observed the scene once more.

Their ships converged on
the enemy, the battle ensued, the escape pods were launched and the window
again computed the actions of each of their fighters. Dot opened another window
and the information was displayed before them.

"I'll have the
computer search for anything unusual. Irregular flight patterns, damage to the
fighters and how many of our fighters are accounted for." Dot said.
"This will take a few nanos."

Surreptitiously, Dot
observed Bob. He was exhausted, she could tell, and she was going to make
certain he got a good nights downtime.

When the information was
compiled, Dot scanned the screen quickly, and sighed at the numbers, "All
the soldiers we lost – the surviving families have been notified."

The number was staggering
and like the first time she had seen it, tears welled in Dots eyes. They had
won the war but at what cost? Then she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder and
she turned and gave Bob a slight smile.

"Cross reference the
last known location of each of the missing fighters and calculate their flight
patterns," Bob said.

"I see," Dot
did so.

A few of the fighters
clearly abandoned the battle much to Dot's disgust. The computer followed their
movements as they made their escape.

"Wait, there!"
Bob suddenly pointed. "Magnify that area." Bob pointed to the left
hand corner of the vid-window

Dot did. "Wait,
that's one of ours isn't it?"

"Yes, but where is
it going? The other fighters all went in the opposite direction."

"We can calculate
its present course and how far it would have to go to a civilized system."
Dot's fingers moved furiously over the keypad. "Let's see, if it remained
on its present course with no variations --,"

Dot turned to Bob. She
didn't need to say it, it was right before them.

"Melissa came on the
war ships," Bob said. "We need to have a talk with her in the
morning."

"It is
morning," Dot said quietly.

"So it is," Bob
smiled.

The opening of a
vid-window disrupted the mood, "Bob? Dot?" Phong's face appeared,
"Please go to the Principal Office Infirmary right away."

"What is it
Phong?" Bob asked.

"Matrix, Mouse and
Ray are there. They have had a run-in with some disreputable people at the
Super Computer."

"Oh no," Dot
said. "We're on our way, Phong."

***

Dot halted at the door to
the waiting room. She was sick with worry but couldn't help the smile that
tugged at her mouth when she heard Mouse's tirade.

"I told you sugah,
I'm fine, stop fussing over me!"

"Hold still!"
Nurse Six scolded, "We have to get some ice on that eye before it swells
shut."

Mouse continued to
grumble.

Bob asked, "What happened?"

Dot's eyes then fell on
Matrix. Her brother sat in a corner away from the others. Apparently, he had
chosen to treat his own wounds for he was holding a roll of gauze over a cut on
his bicep. He was also sporting several other cuts and bruises and a busted
lip.

"That's quite a
shiner Mouse," Bob was saying and for a moment, Dot's attention turned to
her hacker friend. That's when she noticed Mouse's black eye.

"You should see the
other guy, sugah."

"Indeed," Ray
muttered. Of the three, the surfer apparently suffered the least amount of
injury.

"Now tell me how
this happened?"

Nurse Six approached Dot,
"He insisted on treating himself," she said of Matrix. "He won't
let me near him."

Dot strode briskly over
to her brother but always kept a portion of her attention on the other
occupants of the room.

"Well we found out
just how powerful Crack was, sugah, but he didn't do it alone," Mouse was
saying.

"People were
terrified of him, mate," Ray said. "I mean I've seen virus lords with
less power than Crack had."

Dot knelt in front of
Matrix, "We should check to make certain you don't need stitches for
that."

"What?" Matrix
looked up seeming to notice her for the first time.

Dot was hard pressed to
mask her reaction. Every time she saw his face it reminded her of how much her
brother had suffered. Not just what he had went through at the hands of Daemon,
but his time in the web as well. Lynx was right about one ting, Enzo had told
her next to nothing about that and she had not been there to protect him. It
had been her decision to let him go into the games and it had cost him his
childhood. Dot knew she'd never forgive herself for that.

"Matrix?" The
uncomfortable silence was broken by the appearance of AndrAIa. "What
happened?"

No one replied at first,
then Bob cleared his throat, "Trouble at the Super Computer." Bob
went on to explain what had happened.

AndrAIa stepped around
Dot and knelt before Matrix.

"Let me have a look
at that."

"It's nothing
AndrAIa."

"Silly sprite, you're
bleeding all over the place."

"Geez can't people
stop coddling me?" Matrix said, "I said I was fine."

"Don't give me that
'angsty' stuff, Matrix."

Dot sighed and turned
away.

"Like I was saying,
sugah," Mouse continued. "Crack was just a two-byte lackey. It was
whoever was pulling his strings that had the real power."

Dot stepped beside Bob
and he smiled slightly at her. His arm went around her waist and Dot sighed
again at the measure of comfort it brought. Bob had said Matrix was just scared
and embarrassed but still Dot wondered what her brother was thinking.

"But who did this to
you?" Bob asked.

"I'm getting to
that, sugah." Mouse said. "When we went asking around, somebody
suggested we go out to this place, one of the pre-fab buildings they use like a
warehouse. They said a group's been meeting."

"It was a
trap," Bob said.

"Yeah, we figured as
such but we thought we could handle it," Mouse said. "Didn't think
there'd be that many though."

"And after I told
you to be careful," Bob scolded.

Mouse pointedly ignored
him, "Anyway, one of them starts threatening us and lets it slip that
whoever was pulling Crack's strings will get us."

"So we have to find
out who the puppet master is." Dot said.

"What'd you two find
out in the archives?" Ray asked.

Dot took out her
organizer and opened it, accessing the file detailing the flight patterns of
their ships. "We found that four of our ships left the scene. Three seemed
to be going into the same direction but one – well – see for yourself."

"There are several
systems it could have gone to," Ray said. "It's hard to tell since it
went out of range."

"Let me guess,"
Mouse said, "The largest system in its flight path with no variations
would be the Super Computer?"

Bob sighed, "You
know of Melissa's power? Attaching to things?"

"You think another
virus has that power and maybe attached to this ship?" Mouse asked.
"Or maybe managed to hijack it?"

"Either way, it's a
possibility."

"Then we need to
talk to Melissa," Ray said.

"In the
morning?" Mouse asked.

"It is
morning," Bob said. "Better make it now. We know Nemesis is deleted
--,"

"That's for sure,
sugah," Mouse smiled.

"But who else was on
the lead ship?"

"Look you two go
talk to Melissa and we'll see what we can get out of the prisoners in the
detention center." Mouse said.

"You'll do no such a
thing," Bob said. "The first thing you're all going to do is let
Nurse Six finish treating you then get some downtime."

"I'll keep an eye on
him Dot," AndrAIa said, "Some body has to keep him in line."

"Mouse, did you
manage to restrain any of the people who attacked you?"

"Yup," Mouse
smiled proudly. "Dom has them locked in the storage rooms at the factory,
but we needed you to authorize their transport. Of course when Phong saw us, he
insisted we get fixed up."

"Then when you're
all 'fixed up' and have gotten some downtime, return to the S.C. and question
them. I'll be along later to give you the authorization. Then I'd like for you
to return to the factory and assist Dom in getting a new Security force
together." Bob smiled when Mouse opened her mouth to voice what he knew
would be a protest, "That's an order Constable."

Mouse snorted.

"Matrix and AndrAIa,
meet us at the Principal Office when you've finished questioning the prisoners
here," Bob turned to Dot, "You sure you want to come along?"

"Let you go to Hex's
Lair in the wee hours of the morning alone?" Dot said. "I don't think
so."

***

Hexadecimal gazed with a
smile into her mirror at Bob and Dot's approach.

"Now won't this be
interesting," the Chaos virus smiled.

Bob was calling to her
and with a wave of her hand, both sprites appeared before her.

"Good evening
Hexadecimal. Did we wake you?" Bob asked.

"Of course
not," Hex smiled, "I seldom sleep."

The java table laden with
biscuits and a tea set appeared, "Tea and biscuits anyone?"

The two sprites moved
nervously over to the couch and sat down. Hex watched amused as they squirmed
and fidgeted. How she loved that reaction in sprites and binomes.

"Now what brings you
to my Lair at this hour?"

"Actually Hex,"
Bob said, "We needed to talk to Melissa."

Hex leaned back and gave
her intrigued face, "And why is that? I may not need to sleep but she
certainly does."

"It's important Hex.
We need to know some information about Daemon's Web Armada."

"Whatever for? My
mother's deleted, her armada destroyed, what more do you need?"

As Bob explained the
happenings in the Super Computer, Hex leaned forward intent. She was especially
interested in the murdered sprites and binomes and the condition they were in.
She supposed that Rose Norton was right about it being a viral infection, but
she'd have to actually see it to be certain. "Hmm, fascinating," Hex
mused when Bob finished speaking. "Very well, wait right here."

Hexadecimal stood and
teleported into Melissa's room. Her little sister was sleeping peacefully and
Hex took a nano to simply look at her. How pretty, how perfect, Hex
thought. This wonderful beautiful being in her life, something to fill that
hollowness left by Megabyte's deletion.

"Awaken my love, we
have guests," Hex said.

She awoke immediately and
yawned, "Hi Hex."

"Bob and Dot need to
talk to you," Hex floated over and sat on the bed and marveled at her tiny
charge.

"What for?"
Melissa asked.

"Oh something about
the lost web armada. Sprites do go on about unimportant things. I suppose we'll
finally have to straighten things out. Do you feel up to talking to them
now?"

"All right."

Hex teleported them both
back to the throne room.

Hex lifted Melissa onto
her lap, "All right, ask your questions."

"Melissa," Bob
began, "Something has happened in the Super Computer and we think you may
be able to help us with it." Bob gave a brief, less graphic description of
what had happened.

"But how can I
help?" Melissa asked afterwards.

"Well," Bob
said, "I told you about how some of our ships are unaccounted for, we
wanted to know if you're aware of any other viruses that have your ability to
attach to things."

"Not that I'm aware
of," Melissa said warily, "Why would you want to know that?"

"We think a virus
may have attached to one of our escaping ships and fled to the Super Computer.
Rose Norton said what happened to the sprites and binomes was some type of
viral infection."

"Hex," Bob
said, "Would you be willing to go to the Super Computer with us tomorrow
and examine these bodies? Will you be able to tell if this is a viral
infection?"

"I'll be able to
tell if it's a viral infection," Hex said, "But not if it's
Quicksilver or Chaos. It's not like when I sensed you had turned viral,
Bob."

"What?" Dot
said, "You knew about that?"

"Oh dear," Hex
said, "I suppose I shouldn't have said that. Well yes, I sensed the viral
side but only because he had my mother's aura on him. Without something of that
nature to focus on, I won't be able to tell if where Chaos and Quicksilver
are."

"I can have a
discreet system wide search done," Bob said, "We don't want to cause
mass panic. It will take some time, since we're so understaffed but it will be
done."

"Bob," Melissa
said quietly, "I can tell you if it's Quicksilver or Chaos's handiwork. I
would just have to study the bodies."